All delivery boys working for Swiggy and Zomato in Ranchi will have to be tested for Covid-19 as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of infection among consumers, officials from Food Safety Department of Jharkhand said on Wednesday.

Even chefs, cooks and other staff working in restaurants have to be tested for the virus in a bid to adhere to the safety standards during the pandemic, said Ranchi's food safety officer, S.S. Kullu.

“Third party food delivery companies and restaurants that have employed delivery partners have to ensure that all delivery boys are tested,” said Kullu. “There is no such mandate as of now, but food delivery companies and restaurants will soon be asked to get their employees tested for Covid-19 to maintain safety standards,” he added.

Several families in New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru were quarantined during the lockdown period after food delivery boys, who frequented the localities, were found infected. However, no such incident has been reported in any city in Jharkhand.

“We are planning to conduct a survey to find out the total number of delivery boys working for Swiggy, Zomato, local food delivery companies and restaurants,” said Kullu.

While there is no data available with the food department on the number of delivery boys in Ranchi, sources said that around 1,000 men were doing this for a living in the state capital.

The health department has directed deputy commissioners of all districts to conduct Covid tests of vegetable and fruit vendors as they were likely to spread the infection among a large number of people.

A directive from health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni on Tuesday said that vegetable vendors and roadside hawkers were often found flouting Covid-19 safety norms. Testing them, the directive said, was important as they come in contact with a large number of people every day.